Green Ribbon Schools Updates: "Sorry, Kermit — It Can Be Easy Being Green"

 

Sorry, Kermit — It Can Be Easy Being Green

As Director of the new Green Ribbon Schools program, I have visited a lot of Green Schools. I have been thrilled by geothermal heating and cooling systems; intrigued by water retention ponds and cisterns; and delighted by practical yet attractive recycled building materials. But I’ve also been impressed by schools that have “gone green” through sheer ingenuity. My visits to schools that look like any other reinforce our understanding that any school, no matter its resources or location, can take relatively simple steps toward the goals of the Green Ribbon Schools recognition award. Read more >>>

 

Investing in Education in Every State and District 

In September, President Obama introduced the American Jobs Act, which among other key investments to create jobs would invest $30 billion to repair and modernize public schools and community colleges and $30 billion to keep hundreds of thousands of teachers from facing layoffs.

But how would that really affect you?  The Department of Education released two interactive maps that will show you what the American Jobs Act could do for your state and local school district.  In conjunction with the new interactive maps, the Obama Administration also released a new report that provides an analysis of the condition of America’s schools, which have fallen into disrepair, as well as the difficult budget environment facing school districts and teachers nationwide.  See more and read the Education and the American Jobs Act: Creating Jobs through Investments in Our Nation’s Schools report.

 

Green Ribbon Receives Overwhelming Support… and A Few Ribbons of its Own

This fall the Department of Education launched the Green Ribbon Schools award to recognize schools that have integrated best practices in energy, water and waste management, healthy school environments, and environmental education. In an overwhelming show of support for recognition of high achievement in these areas, 33 states, the District of Columbia and the Bureau of Indian Education indicated that they would nominate schools to ED for the new award.  See what state education agencies are saying about Green Ribbon Schools >>>